


Reluctantly Acquainted

by karasunova



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends, French Hermione, Friendship, Gen, No Horcruxes, Post-First War with Voldemort, Professors, Voldemort Dies (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28947339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunova/pseuds/karasunova
Summary: Hermione Granger is a new professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She also happens to be one of the youngest, other than the dower potions professor who she has yet to be able to talk to. Whenever she tries to start up some sort of conversation he stalks away before she can get any word in.How can she possibly get him to give her a chance?
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Severus Snape
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Hermione's Haven Bingo 2021





	Reluctantly Acquainted

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hermione's Haven January 2021 Roll-a-Drabble. My roll was Severus/Locked in a room
> 
> Also filling my Hermione's Haven Bingo 2021 square  
> Square Filled: B3 - Teacher/Professor AU
> 
> This is a complete AU. It's post first war with Voldemort (where he died) and Hermione is around Snape's age.

Hogwarts Castle was enormous. Well, of course, it was going to be large. It’s a castle! But when Hermione Granger arrived to take up her post as the new professor for ancient runes, she had been incredibly overwhelmed. 

She didn’t let that bring her down! She was determined to learn and explore her home at every possible opportunity. This often led her to run into her students outside of class. These interactions were followed by some sort of disciplinary action, having caught them using magic in the halls or out after curfew. Her attempts to make those disciplinary actions were proving to get more and more difficult considering she actually wasn’t all that much older than most of her students. 

She was considerably younger than her colleagues and the only other professor she thought about turning to for advice (or rant to) ignored her at every turn. 

Severus Snape was a dark fellow with a deep brow and an even deeper disregard for a complete stranger like Hermione. 

They were briefly introduced at the start of term, but he ignored her after that. She didn’t take it personally. She was a stranger and she understood if he and others were a little wary of strangers considering the whole country had just gotten out of a war where they couldn’t even trust their neighbors. Voldemort and his Death Eaters reign of terror left Britain traumatized. 

However, she couldn’t help wanting to get to know the enigmatic potions professor. 

She was thinking as much as she examined the wares in the professor’s storeroom. Prof. McGonagall mentioned new items tended to appear in the room and that Hermione ought to take a look. 

She was looking for something her students could work on when she heard the door slam shut, followed by a loud curse. 

Hermione peered around the large shelf she had been looking over and spotted the man who was on her mind. “Are you alright?”

He spun around, brows deeply furrowed. “What are you doing here?” 

“Looking for something. You?” 

“Same reason you are.” It looked as if he was fighting an eye-roll. Well, he shouldn’t have asked such a silly question in the first place. 

He turned back to the door and pulled on the handle, but it didn’t budge. He tried again. 

She came around the shelf. “Is it locked?” 

His shoulders stiffened. “What gave it away?” 

She sighed. “Well, can you unlock it?” 

He slipped his wand into his hand and motioned it over the door handle. He tried the door again, but it still didn’t budge. 

He slammed his fist against the door. “Brilliant. Just brilliant.” 

She pushed him aside and tried to unlock it herself. He scoffed under his breath and she had to bite back a groan once she failed as well. 

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I suppose we’re stuck in here until someone lets us out.” 

He turned on his heel and began to stalk away. 

“What is your problem?” She said before she could stop herself. “You really can’t stand to be in the same room with me, can you? What have I done to make you hate me so much.” 

He turned back around. “I don’t waste my energy hating people I don’t even know.” 

She approached him, hands on her hips. “Then what is it? You ignore me when I try to say hello, you practically leave whenever I enter the teacher’s lounge. Is it because I’m a-”

“- No!”

“- French witch?” 

He blinked. “What?” 

“French? Do you hate me because I’m French? I was technically born in France, but my parents are British. Do you have some sort of prejudice against foreigners?” 

He gaped at her. “You think I hate you because you’re French?” 

She dropped her hands to her sides and shrugged. “I really don’t know. You just seem to already have an opinion of me, but we’ve never even had a chance to talk.” 

He laughed under his breath. “I don’t hate you because you’re French. I don’t hate you,” he reiterated. 

“Then what the hell, Severus?” 

“I didn’t want you to ask me mundane questions about the war,” he admitted. 

She rolled her eyes. “Why would I ask  _ you _ about the war?”

He huffed. “Because of my part in it, you twit.” 

“I’m sure everyone had some part in it, in some way or other. But, that’s not what I’ve wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Why else would you possibly want to talk about with  _ me _ ?”

She kicked her boot against the stone floor. “Well, you’re one of the youngest professors here other than me and you’ve been working at Hogwarts for almost three years. I was maybe hoping you could give me some advice or maybe just have each other’s backs?” She tugged on the end of her jumper. “The students respect you and don’t see you as some sort of doormat. Our colleagues regard you highly as well. I don’t know, I guess I was just hoping we could be -”

“Friends?” His voice was low. 

She peered up at him, taking in the dark color of his eyes. “Yes?”

“I don’t make friends,” he stated simply. His mouth twisted at the corner. 

“How about acquaintances that don’t ignore each other in the teacher’s lounge or at breakfast? Maybe acquaintances who can talk about articles we’ve read or acquaintances who discuss work?” 

He looked her over briefly. “I suppose that won’t take too much out of my day.” 

“Brilliant!” She stuck her hand out. 

He stared at it with narrowed eyes. A moment passed before he reached out and shook her hand.

“Hermione Granger,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” 

“Severus Snape.” 

They dropped each other’s hand. 

She took a deep breath. “I’m glad that’s settled.”

“I suppose,” he mumbled. 

“Hey, what did you think I was going to say?” 

“When?” 

She pulled her hair over her shoulder and began to braid it haphazardly. “You shouted no when I asked if you hated me because I’m French-born.”

He shook his head. “It’s not important.” 

She opened her mouth to argue, but the door to the storeroom slowly opened. Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Dumbledore appeared on the other side. 

“There you two are,” Prof. Dumbledore clapped his hands together. “We were beginning to worry about you two. Come along, we were about to start the quarterly meeting without you.”

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances. Severus held his arm out, motioning her to go before him. “After you.” 

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you.” 


End file.
